


Black Hill Prompts 2020

by littlesolo



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25843231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesolo/pseuds/littlesolo
Summary: Various Black Hill prompts.  From simple mishaps to general chaos to moments between Maria and Natasha at various points in their relationship.Feel free to post prompts you'd like in the comments.
Relationships: Maria Hill/Natasha Romanov
Comments: 9
Kudos: 51





	1. Blinding Chaos

Being a big brother is something Harley Keener and Peter Parker take very seriously. Ever since Tony’s death, both young men make time to check in with Morgan whenever they can. Harley is a bit better at it than Peter, mainly because he’s not busy saving the world like his older counterpart usually is. 

Point is, when Morgan calls in a panic over breaking one of her Dad’s tech pieces, Harley and Peter rush over to the Stark’s garage. Harley has been working as a Stark company intern and Peter is always nearby. Morgan is in tears and Harley is doing his best to reassure her that whatever is broken can be fixed while Peter does a quick scan to take in the damage. They have to do without FRIDAY alerting Pepper that something is wrong. 

“Harley, I need a hand over here. See what you can do with the wiring while I deal with this…Morgan is this silly putty?” asks Peter when he briefly looks up. Morgan nods, but of course it isn’t regular silly putty. Regular silly putty doesn’t explode or bind with electric components. 

Inside the home, Maria Hill is having her weekly lunch with Pepper. It’s not until one of the boys bumps Maria’s car and sets off the silent alarm which triggers an alarm on Maria’s phone. It’s not clear what exactly happened, but as Maria and Pepper go rushing into the garage, there’s a small explosion followed by a blinding flash. All Maria remembers is a blinding flash of light and then everything goes dark. 

* * *

When she regains consciousness, the first thing she’s aware of is Peter and Harley apologizing all over themselves and Pepper on the phone with someone. 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” come Harley and Peter’s mixed exclamations from either side of her. 

“Why can’t I see?” asks Maria as she moves her hands towards her face. 

“NO DON’T TOUCH!” yells Peter, Harley, and Pepper. 

“Sharon will be here in a few minutes. I’m afraid you were looking right at the tech when part of it exploded.” Maria can’t see anything but her other senses are in overdrive. She can hear Harley wringing his hands and Peter pacing nervously. She can also hear Pepper using her mothering tone with someone. Morgan. The girl is an odd mixture of her mother and father. While she has a flair for trouble like her father, her cautious streak and tendency for worry kept her from getting too deep into trouble. 

“I’ll be fine Morgan, you’ll see. Sharon will fix me up like new” says Maria gently with a calmness she doesn’t feel. On the inside she knows that her best chances are either time or something from Helen Cho’s drawing board. 

* * *

Sharon arrives at the home with Natasha in tow. Natasha isn’t one to panic, but Maria can feel the nervous energy radiating off her from across the room. 

“Nat, bottom line, I’m fine. I can hear your worry from here” announces Maria from her position on the couch where Morgan is holding her hand. Peter and Harley are now both pacing and Pepper is doing her best to calm them as Natasha levels both with her most intimidating stare. 

“What. Happened” barks Natasha and both boys start speaking at once, explaining their roles in what happened. 

“Peter and I were trying to fix—” 

“Harley was trying to the silly putty to disengage from the wiring—” 

“And Morgan was crying and we were working as fast—” 

“—as hard as we could to fix the tech and then it—” 

“Natasha winces at the desperation in the overlapping voices and the anxiousness in their eagerness to be heard… She holds a hand up for silence and the voices abruptly stop. Her next move is to rub at the spot above her nose where a headache is starting to form. 

“Sharon?” she asks, looking over at the SHIELD agent. 

“I don’t know, we’ll have a better idea after Cho has a look at her…”

* * *

A few hours later, Maria is in the med lab with her eyes bound. 

“So how long do I have to look like a mummy?” growls Maria. The bandages itch and she needs her sight back. She notes another set of footsteps entering the room and sits up a bit straighter in an attempt to look less like an invalid. Natasha notices from her perch in the chair next to the bed and cocks her head to the side until she notices Nick in the room. 

“Nick…”

“Heard that your eye sight might be impaired for a while” announces Nick as he makes his way to the foot of the bed. 

“Temporary set-back” counters Maria. She may not have her sight, but she’s not useless. 

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to put you on lock down, Hill.” That brings Maria up short. She struggles to stand up, but Natasha’s hands on her shoulders keep her planted in bed. “We’ll set a home base, but after that I can’t allow you to leave. A physically compromised agent out in the open is something too big for us to risk.”

“I’m hardly any ordinary agent—” protests Maria. 

“No, you’re the second in command. A high value target. I’m sorry Maria.” Maria sighs, knowing that Nick is making the right call. If it were anyone else, it would be different but with the knowledge that she has, AIM, HYDRA, Hammer, or take your pick of any other organization would gladly scoop her up. Nick waits as she takes the situation in. 

“So what happens now?” asks Natasha from her side at the edge of the bed. 

“Well, now Agent Hill is released into your care, Agent Romanoff…” 

“Can we not talk about me like I’m not here?” pleads Maria. She’s aware she’s handicapped, but she still has value. 

“Maria, you are now under Natasha’s protective detail” declares Nick. Natasha gives Maria a small smile, forgetting for a moment that she can’t see. Instead she opts for a small shoulder squeeze. One thing that Nick had noticed is that Maria had jumped almost imperceptibly whenever any one of the nurses or staff touched her, but Natasha’s touch made her relax. 

* * *

The home base is declared to be Stark Tower. It’s the safest play but it doesn’t hurt that FRIDAY can help out with most of Maria’s needs if Natasha can’t. Natasha knows how to blend into the background and be unobtrusive but she’s unsure what she can do the second in command. 

“Nat I’m fine here. You can go do whatever you want” says Maria as Natasha helps ease her on down onto the couch. 

“Maria, there’s no reason for you to go through this alone… let me help” says Natasha as she leans down next to Maria’s side. 

“You think you can get me any intel on how Clint’s mission is going…” 

“Nope. Nick made me promise not to let you get involved in work stuff. Have a something else in mind?” asks Natasha. Maria turns her head away. 

“In that case, no. I’ll just get some rest.” Natasha is about to ask something else when Maria calls out to the room. 

“FRIDAY, can you play Nero Wolfe Mysteries, episode Death of a Doxy?” 

“Yes, I can” responds the AI and the large mounted television flicks on. Somewhere in the middle of the episode, Natasha decides she’s ignored the pang in her stomach long enough. 

“Maria? How do you feel about a grilled cheese sandwich?” asks Natasha as she makes her way to the kitchen. 

“I could eat” calls back Maria. 

She’s only gone for fifteen minutes max, but when she returns with two plates with hot sandwiches, Maria is gone. Shit. Okay, okay, there aren’t many places Maria could have gone. The television is now playing the next episode but the sofa is cold. She’s about to call out to FRIDAY, when she hears the pummeling sound coming from the gym. Setting down the plates on a nearby table, Natasha jogs over to the gym area. She watches as Maria punches at the hanging heavy bag. Maria had managed to wrap her hands and work up a sweat in the time it’s taken her to do some quick cooking. 

“You know, you can push me away all you want, I’m not going anywhere” says Natasha as she waits just out of Maria’s reach. 

“I’m sorry, but I can’t just sit around anymore” explains Maria between punches. 

“I’m here to make sure you don’t injure yourself, but that doesn’t mean you just have to sit on the side lines for a week” counters Natasha as she crosses her arms. That brings Maria up short. So short, that the bag swings back and whacks her, causing her to stumble, but Natasha is right at her side to catch her and keep her from falling. 

“What?” asks Maria as she rights herself and swipes the sweat off her brow. 

“Sensory deprivation was part of our training at Red Room, so I can work with you on adapting to the darkness for a while, but keep in mind, Helen is working on a cure if your eyes don’t heal on their own” says Natasha as she reluctantly lets Maria go. They haven’t been a couple long but, she has a feeling that Laura would tell her this would qualify as one of those times to stick by Maria. 

“How can you sound so confident?” asks Maria. She’s been juggling between panic or hysteria and the only productive thing she could think to do was beat the shit out of something. FRIDAY had told her it was approximately five hundred and fifty-six steps to the gym and thanks to Tony’s love of open plan layouts, it hadn’t been too hard to get here. She had stepped into a potted plant along the way, but she was keeping that detail to herself. 

Natasha shrugs, forgetting again that Maria can’t see her, and answers simply, “Experience. And I might have stared too hard at a flash bang that Clint’s tossed a time or two. If this is anything like that, you’ll have your vision back sooner than you think.” 

“So, what do you suggest?” 

“Well, first I suggest eating our sandwiches before they’re ice cold. Then I have a few exercises we can do. I may have also gotten a hold of a mission debrief for you” answers Natasha. 

* * *

The next few days pass quickly. Pepper checks in with them a few times in person, to reassure Morgan more than anything, but also to settle her own nerves. Maria adapts quickly, as she usually does, but it takes a toll. Maria has developed a tremor in her right hand that only appears when she gets anxious, but it hasn’t escaped Natasha’s notice. There’s only so much deep breathing and yoga can help with, but then Natasha pulls out her training. She does her best to keep from revealing too many details about her past, but the basics are clear. 

“Dance?” asks Maria incredulously. 

“Dance” confirms Natasha as she stretches out her legs. Her ballet background helps her out here. “Relax, we’re not going to be doing the tango” says Natasha with a smirk. Maria can’t fight the wry grin on her face. 

“Aw, you’re no fun.” 

“We’ll start with a simple waltz. You know the steps instinctively, now it’s just a matter of taking in your surroundings with your other senses.” Maria knows better to ask what she means and simply gets into position. “Nope, I’m leading.” Maria sighs. 

“Fine.” As they dance, Maria takes things in. The water cooler is off to her left when they are in the center of the room. She can hear the sound of the tank bubbling. They’ve turned twice when she feels the difference in the mat under her feet, they’ve move onto the wood flooring. She can hear the ticking of the clock above the door. She has no super human abilities, she can’t suddenly see, but she takes comfort in the fact that her other senses are working just fine. 

The week goes by faster than expected and by the end of the week the tremor is gone. Helen Cho glares at Natasha to get her to stop pacing, as she removes the bandages. Maria’s knee is bouncing up and down like a rubber ball as the bandages are carefully peeled away from her face. Everything is blurry at first, but then things get brighter and clearer. She can see. The first thing she does is turn to her left. There’s Natasha. 

“Hey.” Natasha smiles at her. 

“Hey.” 


	2. Impersonator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blackhill Post Endgame: Hill is in the doghouse. She’s missed 3 dates cleaning up the mess Mysterio left behind and promises she’ll be there for the 4th. Trouble is, she’s running late, like holy crap she’ll need a quinjet to even make it home at all kinda late. So what does Hill do? She asks one of the Skrulls to impersonate her for the date, just long enough for her to get there to switch. But Nat is literally the worst person to try and fool, what was Hill thinking? (Angst/fluff/fun)

It's the little things that make a relationship special. The little moments and gestures or personal quirks that no one seems to notice. In this case, it's the little things that are pissing Natasha off. 

The person or thing that enters the restaurant certainly looks like Maria Hill, but again it's the little things. For instance, Maria's army training is as much a part of her as her fingerprints and Natasha's first hint that something is up comes when Maria enters the premises without scanning the area for possible threats and means of escape. Regardless of where she's entering, Maria always checks that Natasha is safe and that there are no lurking threats. This had proven to be fortunate when Natasha was once held at gunpoint in their apartment. Maria had known something was wrong without even stepping foot in the room. Together, they had dispatched the threat easily, but it was something that Natasha used to think of as silly. 

Another little hint comes from Maria's left hand. As the imposter enters, their hand remains steady at their side. This is another blaring alarm that has Natasha reaching for the gun she keeps in her thigh holster. The real Maria is always nervous in a way that Natasha finds endearing. For some reason, even after all this time, Maria can't get it through her thick skull that Natasha loves her. Her nervousness usually appears in the form of fidgeting fingers, usually twirling a pen or a loose piece of change. Maria gets nervous as if it were their first date all over again, neither of them sure if the date is a good idea or simply wrecking a good friendship. Well at this point, they've moved way beyond that and have moved in together. Still the nervous habit persists. 

As the imposter sits down, Natasha leans back in her seat. As soon as they are are comfortable, smile in place, Natasha levels her gun at their chest. The smile falls away. 

"Uh, Nat, what are you doing?" asks the phony Maria. 

"You can drop the act. I don't know who or what you are, but you're not my Maria. Where is she?" 

* * *

Maria hurry's to the restaurant where she's supposed to meet Nat. Only an hour late. Not great, but it'll do. They like this particular restaurant because they are well known by the owner, having helped him out of a skirmish years ago, and a special out of the way spot is usually reserved for them in the back, giving them a bit of privacy. She's brought up short when she spots her Skrull friend in their natural form sitting across from Natasha having tea. 

"What's happening here?" asks Maria as she quickly makes her way over. The plan had been to switch in the bathroom but that idea was quickly thrown out at seeing the Skrull leisurely sipping tea and chatting with Natasha. 

"We're just waiting for you to get here and explain why you thought this would be okay" states Natasha. Maria gulps. 

"I just needed someone to hold my spot until I could get here, but I also didn't want to let you down again. Sorry" says Maria. Natasha is debating whether to make Maria suffer a little while more but she notices that Maria seems genuinely ashamed of herself. 

The Skrull had been shifting their gaze between the two women and decided now was the best time to take their leave. Nodding to Natasha they get up and then nod to Maria before making their way out. Maria takes the recently vacated seat and gives Natasha a shaky smile, her left hand fingers drumming a rhythm on her thigh. Natasha smiles. 

It's the little things. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley Keener and Peter Parker are fiddling with Tony's tech again, with a little help that they didn't know about from Morgan. This time however, the effects aren't as dire as losing her sight, this time Maria is simply shrunk back down to when she was five. This is still a problem and Pepper calls in reinforcements. Laura Barton, Sharon Carter, Carol Danvers, and Natasha Romanoff all answer that call and help figure out a way to get Maria back to normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original prompt reads:
> 
> First it was being blinded, now she’s turned little. Maria always seems to be in the firing line of Parker and Starks experiment mishaps. Only this time it’s not a quick fix, and getting to see what Maria was like as a child is equally a treat as it is a wound for the others. (By others I mean Laura Barton, Nat, Pepper, Sharon and Carol. Gimme the SHIELD squad).

For the record, in case any case anyone was listening, this should not have happened. As of now, she was only going to go to Pepper’s house with a STRIKE team in place in case something like this happened again. That’s only if she remembered any of this when she turned back that is. 

* * *

The most important thing to remember (which she constantly forgets) is that Harley Keener and Peter Parker are at Pepper’s nearly all the time. She figures it’s their way of keeping Tony’s memory alive, he’d been a mentor to them both. Harley had been accepted as a Stark Industries intern and Peter, well, Peter liked to think he was keeping his hand in things. The fact that they both saw themselves as Morgan’s adoptive brothers kept Pepper from having to find a babysitter a lot of the time. That being said, combining the three kids almost always spelled trouble. 

This latest little fiasco, well, Maria isn’t so sure how it happed exactly. Come to think of it, she’s not exactly clear how the last fiasco happened either. All she’s certain of is that the two boys and Morgan were involved somehow. Putting them together with Tony’s tech was a hazardous, but thankfully not lethal, combination. 

* * *

Pepper knows she had a meeting with Maria, it was on her paper calendar on her desk and she had multiple reminders on her on her phone, so there was no way she could forget. However, she hadn’t expected the shareholders meeting to so long, and because of that she was running twenty minutes late. The first thing she notices when she gets home is Morgan who is waiting for her as expected, but she doesn’t know where the boys are. 

“Mommy, I made a new friend!” announces Morgan as she runs up to her. 

“Oh yeah? Who?” asks a confused Pepper, the boys better than to have anyone over that hasn’t been approved, and Pepper can’t think of anyone Morgan’s age…

“Her name is Maria!” continues Morgan. Immediately, Pepper gets a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. A feeling she used to get around Tony a lot and is now getting with the boys more and more. She’d tried to ignore it the first few times, just push it out of her mind, but given the number of… incidents that had been happening, it’s getting harder to ignore. 

Morgan waves her new friend over and there’s no mistaking it, it was a five-year-old Maria Hill. There could be any number of children with brown hair and scraped knees, but Maria’s eyes were unmistakable. The small child seemed to be evaluating her like she does new SHIELD recruits, with a careful eye. She didn’t miss the bruises that were slightly hidden under the jean overalls she was wearing. 

Now, Pepper can handle a lot. She’d handled Tony for numerous years and all the chaos that entitled, and she knew she was a good Mom. That being said, she knew Maria had some kind of trauma in her past and while they’ve never discussed it, she had a feeling it was more than she can handle. The only fortunate thing is that all her closest friends happen to be in town since SHIELD was renewing all family agreements and terms. Or at least that’s how Nick Fury and Maria had explained it. Pepper and Laura Barton had become friends rather unexpectedly. They had met at Tony’s funeral and had hit it off. There were so many questions that Pepper had regarding raising the child of an Avenger. Some might say she still is being raised by an Avenger but Pepper doesn’t see herself that way. When she had donned the suit before, the fate of the world had been at stake. Since then though, she hadn’t really had a need for it. The Avengers could handle the rest of the world (universe?) without her. 

Parenting though, she felt she could use all the help she could get. Which was in part why she used the boys as babysitters. For this predicament though, she felt she needed all hands on deck. The first person she calls is Natasha. She doesn’t give any details, seeing as how when backed into a corner or faced with something she felt beyond her wheelhouse, she tended to bolt, but Maria was her girlfriend and Pepper figured that Maria might be comforted by her presence. The second person she calls is Sharon Carter. It’s common knowledge that Maria and Sharon grew up together, got their training started early by none other than Peggy Carter herself. Maybe she’d have some insight as to how to make Maria comfortable until all of this is resolved. Laura Barton is called because she has more experience than Pepper does at this whole parenting thing. Then she calls Carol. Carol’s been around the universe a time or two, and they could use all the help she can get figuring this out. 

* * *

As expected, the minute Natasha lays eyes on tiny Maria, she pales and tries to bolt. It takes both Laura and Pepper’s joined efforts to calm her down and pry her fingers away from the door. Sharon just stares, unable to take in what she’s seeing, and that’s saying something, considering her long employment with SHIELD. Laura has heard stories about things like this happening, but this is the first time she’s ever witnessed it herself. Carol just leans down to introduce herself to the young Maria Hill, only to have Maria back away skeptically. 

Laura makes a sympathetic face, not towards Maria, but towards Natasha. She knows what’s going through Natasha’s head right now, she had seen a version of this when Cooper was born. Natasha always feared that she would damage such a young child, her upbringing not leaving much room for things like love and such things. Natasha had told her she’d been raised thinking love was children. This, however, was not what she meant. Laura knew Natasha felt she might inadvertently damage a young child, her past rubbing off somehow and causing her to hurt them. It had taken a lot of work on both Laura and Clint’s part to get her to see that she was not a monster or machine and was more than what Red Room made her. 

“You’re an aunt to three of my kids, Nat. They look up to you and feel safe with you. This is no different” assures Laura. Natasha shakes her head nervously. 

“This is completely different! Maria… what if?? What if I damage her somehow that impacts her later as an adult?? I shouldn’t be here!” hisses Natasha. Laura shakes her head and places her hand on Nat’s shoulder. 

“She loves you, Natasha. She loves you despite your past. She not only loves you, but she also trusts you. You won’t hurt her” says Laura as she guides Natasha away from the door. 

Sharon has been watching Maria, unable to figure out what exactly she’s doing here. 

“You knew Maria growing up, right?” asks Pepper. Sharon shakes her head in a nod, her eyes still locked on little Maria. 

“Yeah, but we met when we were twelve…” says Sharon. Crap, there goes one aspect of Pepper’s plan. But maybe Sharon can help her figure out the technical side of things later. At the moment, Harley and Peter are both trying to calm themselves after their respective panic attacks, especially after hearing that Natasha was coming. They were the ones who had blinded Maria last time and both are sure that Natasha never really forgave them for that, since it could have been permanent. 

* * *

Carol seems remarkably relaxed around Maria, not pushing her to answer questions or be her friend, letting Maria decide for herself if Carol was someone she could call a friend. Laura had run off to the kitchen to get the small Deputy Director something to eat. When she comes back however, she senses something has changed about Natasha. The assassin looks like she’s ready to kill someone. Carefully, Laura follows Natasha’s line of sight over to Maria. Specifically, the hint of bruises that are showing just under the cuffs of Maria’s overalls. Turning her gaze around the room, she sees that Sharon has spotted the bruises as well, however all it makes her do is sigh. The sound is caught by Natasha, who suddenly turns her focus to Agent 13. 

“You knew….” Says Natasha slowly, as she approaches Sharon carefully. Sharon looks down at the floor for a moment and sighs again before looking up and meeting Natasha’s hardened gaze. 

“It’s why Maria came to live with Aunt Peggy and Aunt Angie. Aunt Peggy saw the bruises and stuck a gun in her Dad’s face. Told him that if he ever raised a hand to Maria again that she’d kill him and that she was taking Maria without a fight if he knew what was good for him” explains Sharon. She shrugs before continuing. “Maria… never liked talking about it other than to say her Dad was an asshole.” Pepper turns her focus back to young Maria, who has decided that Carol is okay and is smiling at her and laughing at something the space Avenger said. 

Natasha takes a deep breath and counts to ten in her head, willing herself to calm down. Sharon is not to blame for Maria’s past. Laura lets out the breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding as she watches Natasha calm down. Only then does Laura carefully approach little Maria with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Maria looks at it hesitantly, but Natasha knows that Maria hasn’t eaten since breakfast. Carefully, Maria surveys the room and Natasha gives her a small nod before Maria finally accepts the sandwich. 

“Maria, honey? I’m going to go with Sharon and figure some stuff out with the boys, okay? I need you to stay here with Carol, Laura-“ Natasha moves towards the door where the boys are, planning to go with them, but Pepper shakes her head. “- and Natasha is staying here too, okay? You can trust them, they’re your friends.” Maria looks around the room before meeting Pepper’s gaze again. Maria gives a small nod and takes a bite of her sandwich, settling down on the couch behind her. Natasha hesitantly approaches and sits next to Laura on the couch across from Maria as Pepper and Sharon leave the room. 

* * *

Pepper and Sharon excuse themselves to the next room where Peter is pacing and Harley is wringing his hands and rocking slightly back and forth in his chair. Pepper feels a sense of pity for them both. Apparently, they’d been fiddling with some of Tony’s old tech, and Morgan had gotten curious with something without telling them. Long story short, that’s what landed them here. Maria had simply been in the line of fire when the device had gone off. Both boys had been horrified and Pepper guesses probably had a series of panic attacks before she’d gotten home. Sharon, however, has less sympathy. This isn’t the first time the boys had created a little chaos. Thankfully, nothing as bad as the kind that Tony used to stir up, but put the boys together and it was a disaster waiting to happen. You couldn’t really be mad at Morgan, she was feeling so guilty she’d nearly made herself sick before Pepper tucked into bed. 

“What happened? Exactly” barks Sharon. The two boys stand up at the same time and begin trying to explain all at once. Pepper brings her hand up to her face and pinches the bridge of her nose. Between Morgan’s sobbing in remorse and the two boys trying to explain in panicked tones, it’s beginning to get to her. The four of them are in for a long night. 

* * *

Natasha is doing her best to settle her nerves. Maria’s gaze shifts between the three of them constantly, taking everything in, just like she does on the helicarrier at her post. Every time Maria focuses her gaze on her though, Natasha feels like she can see right through her. Every misdeed she’s ever done. Maria smiles at her bashfully and Natasha does her best to make her smile seem natural and less like a grimace. Whatever expression she managed, makes Maria giggle, something not heard very often regardless of her age, and it makes the weight on Natasha’s shoulders seem a bit lighter. 

Carol watches the interaction between the two with interest. She’d heard rumors about a relationship between Maria and Natasha, she’d just never been around long enough to witness anything between the two. During the snap, she’d told Natasha about her Maria and Monica. She knows two things for certain though. One, Natasha plays it close to the vest and two, her Maria had been dust after the snap. She knew Natasha was grateful to have Maria Hill back, but she couldn’t see why Natasha was so scared right now. Her fear and nervousness were coming off her in waves and the only one who couldn’t sense the full scope of it was Maria, who was doing her five-year-old best to put the assassin at ease. 

Laura was impressed. Natasha was holding up better than expected. Natasha had been a regular at the farm for years, even before Cooper was born. Once Cooper was born though, all of Natasha’s fears about children came to light. She’d been afraid to hold Cooper, much less be within five feet of him. It had taken a lot of reassurance and guidance on both Clint and Laura’s part, but they’d managed to convince Natasha that they trusted her with their children. Cooper was three by the time Natasha became entirely comfortable with him, alone and on her own, but when Lila came along, she’d been a natural. Her time around Cooper had lessened her fears and given the confidence to be involved in their children’s lives. That being said, this was not just any child. This was a young Maria Hill. Laura knew that Maria was the love of Natasha’s life, and would never do anything to intentionally harm her, but Laura could see all those fears bubbling to the surface again. Well, that and the urge to kill whoever it was that had harmed Maria. 

Having finished her sandwich, Maria looks around for something to play with. Morgan’s various toys are scattered about the room. Of course, none of them are your average toys, many of them have been… shall we say, enhanced, by Tony in his garage or workshop. Natasha knows the toys better than Carol or Laura, and scans the room for something that doesn’t have the potential of damaging Maria further. She finds a ball that doesn’t look like it could do much damage and walks back over towards Maria and tosses it to her. Maria catches it easily, with a grin. Natasha grins back at her as Maria tosses it back. Carol smirks as she witnesses Natasha’s fear seemingly disappear. 

* * *

Sharon can’t believe this is happening. She and Pepper have gone over Tony’s original blueprints, well, what there was of them. They were heavily annotated with lots of scribbles that only Pepper could decipher. Sharon understands that the boys had the best of intentions, but they had been working without the blueprints and only a few hunches as to Tony’s original intent. Even with the blueprints though, it was hard to figure out what the machine’s intended use was. It had gone so many modifications (hence the scribbles) that even the wiring was tricky. It’s three in the morning when they finally figure out how it works, and six in the morning by the time they’re confident that they can turn Maria back into an adult. Sharon had raised an eyebrow at the boys when they both winced at the coffee Pepper had made. Apparently, they were used to their flavored coffees from Starbucks with whipped cream and chocolate shavings and were not accustomed to regular black coffee. Sharon had given them one of her patented heavy sighs, and offers them cream and sugar. By the end of it, both Harley and Peter’s drinks are more sugar than they coffee. Still, they had held it together throughout the night. She could see the potential in both boys, but was hesitant to ever let them work together again. Maria could only survive so many accidents before something irreversible happened. 

* * *

Carol was a natural. She doesn’t remember all of her time with her Maria and Monica, but if Monica’s love for her was any indication, she’d done a couple of things right. Laura just sits back and watches everything. With three kids of her own keeping her busy during the day, she was exhausted before she ever even got to Pepper’s. Still, this was a side of Maria Hill she’d never seen before. She thinks to herself that maybe she’d seen glimpses when Maria visited the farm with Natasha numerous times. Maria had played with Cooper, Lila, and Nate but there had always been something, a slight reserved feeling that Laura got from her. Like she’d been holding something back. Laura watches this Maria though and sees how Maria puts her all into playing with Natasha and Carol. 

* * *

Natasha has been doing her best to keep things light and happy for Maria, but every time she sees one of the bruises peek out beneath Maria’s pants, she feels a part of herself wanting to revert back to her old self. A self that she thought she had gotten rid of long ago. It makes her nervous at first, she’s not one of Red Room’s bloodthirsty assassins anymore. However, when it’s discovered that Maria’s legs aren’t the only part of her covered in bruises, she feels the urge to employ many of torture techniques she’s learned in her old days against Maria’s father. It was just her luck that the bastard was already dead. But then she saw five-year-old Maria in front of her, and the deadly urges went away. She knew that growing up the way she did, Maria thought all parts of a happy childhood had been lost to her until she met Peggy Carter, but Natasha still saw some of it. She saw it when Maria played video games at the Firecracker Lounge, the bar they frequented. She saw it when Maria teased Peter Parker and Harley Keener and when she (maybe wrongly) encouraged their pursuits in technology. She saw it in how Maria was around her. 

* * *

Maria is successfully returned to her adult form, and not a moment too soon. Apparently, the device only had one last shot left in it before the wiring blew. Some other things blew too, but no one was harmed at least. Unfortunately, Maria has no memory of anything that transpired. Still, Natasha and the others know what happened. Natasha does her best to explain everything when their back in their apartment, just her and Maria. Maria won’t meet her gaze initially, but Natasha simply puts a hand under her chin until they are looking at each other, eye to eye. 

“You have nothing to be ashamed of, Maria Hill. Everyone in SHIELD has their own murky past, myself included, and you proved that anyone can overcome their past. Hell, you were one of the ones to convince me of that.” Maria nods silently, but Natasha can tell she feels guilty for not telling her of her past. Maria’s just about to speak but, Natasha puts a finger to her lips. “We don’t have to talk about it now, just know that whenever you want to, I’m here for you.” And finally, Maria gives her that smile that very few ever get to see. 

* * *

Sharon collapses next to Pepper on the sofa. Harley and Peter had been sent to guest rooms in the house and she has a feeling Pepper’s going to offer her one too (Tony’s home was ridiculously large for just two people, but they almost constantly had visitors and what did people expect when their last home had been Stark Tower?). Sharon is seriously considering taking her up on the offer. Carol had shaken off Maria’s and the boys many thank yous and simply smiled and said “anytime” before flying off to Louisiana probably. 

Laura had headed back to the guest quarters, where Clint was waiting with their children who hopefully weren’t still up, but one never knew with Clint. 


	4. Drunk on Asgardian Ale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blackhill prompt: you're so drunk right now." "No I'm not. You're just blurry.

Maria’s at a Stark party, an informal one, but the bar is open and they’re surrounded by close friends. Still, the levity of night is hampered by something. Maria takes a look around the room and takes in the crowd. She knows that Clint and Natasha just got back from a mission that could have gone better, they both went to medical voluntarily and didn’t make the fuss they usually do about paperwork. It wasn’t a lot to go on, but it was an indicator that the pair could probably use some downtime. This party however, was not exactly what she had in mind. Clint’s heart isn’t in the festivities, she can tell by just looking at him, but still he sits and listens to Rhodey tell yet another War Machine story. First thing in the morning, Maria was going to see about getting Clint some time off to see his family. She wanders further into the room, looking for Natasha. 

Maria sighs to herself. This is a party, she should be off the clock. She shifts her wine glass into her other hand and her gaze moves on to Tony. He’s trying to spin his latest idea to Bruce, who is trying to shift his gaze elsewhere, probably looking for Natasha. She knows the scientist still harbors feelings for Nat, but she’s unsure as to why that makes her feel so uncomfortable. 

Thor is with Jane, telling her of his travels and recent adventures. Maria smirks. Jane is one of the smartest people she knows, but she looks completely mystified by the tale Thor is explaining. He’s making elaborate gestures with his hands, the Asgardian brew he brought almost sloshing from his cup. Maria goes outside to the roof, where she finds Natasha, Sharon, and Darcy laughing and sharing drinks. Sharon and Darcy look like they’re holding their own okay, but Natasha looks a little out of it, the alcohol mixing with her exhaustion. Maria raises an eyebrow at the compromised assassin. Maria knows Natasha wouldn’t do anything like divulge SHIELD secrets or anything, but she also knows that Natasha would be uncomfortable with anyone seeing her this way. 

Carefully, mindful of the suit that Pepper made her buy, Maria sits down next to the red-haired assassin. 

“How’s everybody doing?” she asks, hoping it didn’t come out as awkward as it sounded. Darcy and Sharon are sharing a laugh at something and their laughter is contagious, making Maria grin in response. She turns to her left to look at Natasha who is also grinning at whatever joke was being shared. 

“Maria, did you know that Coulson is making Darcy a probationary agent?” says Sharon as she nudges Darcy with her shoulder. Maria raises an eyebrow at Jane’s intern but her mouth turns into a smile. 

“Does this mean I get a gun?” asks Darcy. The resounding “No!” that comes from Maria, Natasha, and Sharon has them bursting into laughter again. Maria shakes her head before turning to Darcy. 

“From what I hear, you manage just fine with your taser” comments Maria. 

“This is true” states Darcy proudly. Maria smiles and turns to look at Natasha, taking her in. Nat’s smile is happy, but her eyes look a little bit glassy. Maria chuckles as Natasha puts her arm around her shoulders. It’s a friendly gesture but Maria thinks it has more to do with keeping her sitting up right. Maria looks down at her lap for a moment, adjusting to the feeling of heat that surges through her at Natasha’s touch as well as trying not to overthink it, before turning to meet Natasha’s gaze. 

Maria is very aware of what most people think of her, that she’s efficient but cold. She’s pretty sure that if she wasn’t drunk, Natasha wouldn’t be touching her much less talking to her. Maria’s always admired Natasha, her strength, her willingness to put others above herself, her determination to change. She may not have had the same reservations that Phil Coulson had when Natasha was recruited, but it had been the right decision. She’s had conversations with the former KGB assassin, but very few have been non-mission related. If she’s honest with herself, she may have been harboring a crush on the redhead for a couple of months now, but she tends to avoid those. Feelings, that is. Maria trusts her feelings when it comes to the job and it’s served her well. In her personal life? Less so. Not that she has much of a personal life, work always keeping her busy, but she finds she prefers it this way. Or had, at least until she started feeling something for the Russian spy. 

She’s only had one glass of wine, so she knows she isn’t drunk herself, but can’t really find another reason she would do what she’s about to do. Maria also tries to ignore the fact that she’s probably been staring at Natasha the entire time she’s been lost in thought. 

“You’re so drunk right now” says Maria, setting her wine glass down on the ledge. Natasha shakes her head at her slowly. 

"No I’m not. You’re just blurry” replies Natasha. Natasha gives the shoulder she’s holding a squeeze and pulls Maria closer in. Maria rolls her eyes and goes to stand up, only to have Natasha try and pull her back down to her side. 

“No! Stay!!” whines Natasha loudly, and Maria lets out a sigh. Looking back towards the doors that lead back to the party, she sees that Natasha’s outburst has drawn the attention of both Clint and Bruce. Maria does her best to keep from rolling her eyes again. 

“She alright?” asks Clint hesitantly. Maria nods at him and moves to help Natasha up. 

“Yeah, I got her. I’m going to get her home, okay?” answers Maria. Bruce looks a little disappointed but Maria can’t bring herself to care. “C’mon Nat, it’s time to go home.” Natasha simply shrugs and waves goodbye to Darcy and Sharon as she gets up. Huh. Maria had been expecting more of a fight. This was good though. Natasha reaches down to clasp Maria’s hand and for a brief second, Maria’s brain stops working. Then she mentally shakes it off and proceeds to lead Natasha back out towards the front hall. Maria nods goodbye to Pepper and Tony as well as Rhodey on their way out. Thor and Jane wave from where they are still sitting. Pepper offers to get them a taxi, but Maria waves it off and assures them that the cold air will do them some good. Maria grabs their coats on their way. 

The two of them make it to the street outside without any problems. Maria had to put her arm around Natasha’s waist to keep her steady, but she didn’t mind it and hoped Natasha didn’t either. Maria does her best to keep them walking while she gets lost in her thoughts again. 

She’d been watching Natasha during the beginning of the party up until she lost her to the crowd outside. Maria’s betting Thor gave Natasha some of the Asgardian brew he’d brought with him because she’d only watched Natasha with a bottle or two of beer. She was just observing the crowd, not Natasha specifically. 

Great, now she was lying to herself. 

* * *

Natasha wasn’t as out of it as she seemed. The cold air was helping sober her up a bit. She should have known better than to try any alcohol that Thor offered her. The feeling of Maria’s arm around her waist was comforting somehow. Normally, she’d find such a gesture confining but for some reason she trusted Maria. It was nice having someone she could trust like this when everything she looked at was a bit blurry. Okay, a lot blurry. 

Maria had always interested her. It had taken some digging and quite a few threats on her part, but she’d discovered that it had been Maria Hill’s call to offer her a deal. She’d made a deal that she wasn’t authorized to make. Thankfully, Nick Fury trusted the judgement of his right hand. Not everyone else did though, and that had caused a few problems for the both of them. Maria hadn’t seemed to mind though. Clint said Maria had faith in her, but she’d never really interacted with Maria before, so she wondered where all this faith was coming from. It didn’t seem to matter. Natasha just kept her head down and went on the missions she was assigned with Clint. 

She’d observed the Commander a few times in the gym. She was impressive. Not on Natasha’s level, of course, but impressive nonetheless. Natasha could tell she came from a military background without having to look at her file (she did anyway though). It was all in the way she carried herself, the stiffness about her shoulders, how straight she stood, that sort of thing. Still, they’d never really had a conversation that wasn’t work related aside from the occasional nod to each other in the halls. Which is why it was intriguing that Maria offered to get her home. Clint seemed to trust Maria with her though, and that was something. Natasha pauses in her steps for a moment and points to the right. 

“Down this street here” mumbles Natasha. Maybe she’s more out of it than she thought, usually it’s not this hard to talk. Maria gently guides her around the corner and they continue down the sidewalk. When they do reach Natasha’s apartment (one of many Maria’s guessing) Natasha starts fumbling in her coat for her keys. Eventually, she pulls them out with a proud smile and hands them over to Maria. 

* * *

If she goes back to being honest with herself, Maria finds Natasha’s smile adorable. Grabbing the keys, she tries not to think about how Natasha’s fingers linger on hers longer than necessary. It takes her a moment to find the right key (she’s pretty sure that the motorcycle key really belongs on Steve’s key chain) but once she does they’re in. 

Natasha’s apartment isn’t exactly what she expected but at the same time it kind of is. There are no mementos from trips or personal photos anywhere. She’s pretty sure that the frames that are scattered in various places are all holding the photos they came with. The décor isn’t what she expected either but there’s only as much as is absolutely necessary. A couch, tv, chair, bed in the lone bedroom. As best as she can, Maria maneuvers Natasha towards the bedroom. There she finds a large bed and a closet. Natasha being Natasha, she suspects there are weapons hidden somewhere or everywhere (Nat is always prepared) so she’s very careful about what she touches. Maria does her best to guide Natasha to the bed but the redhead breaks free of her hold and stumbles the last few feet to the bed. Maria steps forward to help Natasha settle but quickly turns around when Natasha starts to strip off her dress. 

Maria lets out a shuddering breath and walks into the closet. There she finds the largest sweatshirt she’s ever seen. She has to admit that it is exceedingly comfortable and soft (and smells like Natasha) but it looks like it could fit the Hulk. Still, it’s better than nothing, and Maria brings it out to Natasha to change into. Seeing Natasha’s exposed back is enough to make Maria’s mouth go dry. Natasha turns to look at her over her shoulder. She might have been about to say something, Maria isn’t sure, since the moment Natasha met her eyes, she tossed the sweatshirt at her. Then Maria makes her way to the kitchen and the bathroom. In the kitchen she fills a glass with water and then goes to the bathroom in search of aspirin. Under the sink, she finds a large medical kit and some aspirin in a bottle tucked in the back. Maria guesses that given the usual wounds that Natasha goes home with, aspirin wouldn’t be much help. Walking back into the bedroom, she is glad (and a little disappointed) to see that Natasha had managed to get the shirt on. She’s still sitting up right though, swaying slightly side to side. Maria steps falter for a moment, unsure of what to do, until she sighs and makes her way to the bedside. On the small side table, she sets down the glass of water and pills and then proceeds to help Natasha into bed. She’s just tucked her in and is about to leave when Natasha’s arm shoots out and grabs her hand. 

“Stay…please??” asks Natasha. And Maria can’t bring herself to say no. She sighs and gestures to the other room. 

“I’ll be on the couch.” 

* * *

The next morning, Maria wakes up to the sound of bare feet padding on the floor. She sits up slowly, once again thankful for the fact that she had worn a suit to the party. Sitting up, she’s suddenly struck by the fact that she doesn’t know where she is and panic seeps into her. 

“Hey” says a familiar voice behind her and she turns to see Natasha standing there in her enormous sweatshirt. That’s when she remembers everything from the night before. 

“Did the aspirin help?” asks Maria. It feels like a stupid thing to say, but she’s got nothing else. 

“Yeah, thanks. Never try anything an Asgardian offers you” states Natasha as she rubs her forehead with a wince. “Anyway, can I interest you in breakfast, Commander?” Maria raises an eyebrow at her. 

“I’m willing to bet all the money in my pockets that you don’t have anything more than condiments in that fridge of yours” says Maria calmly. Natasha gives her a wry grin. 

“How about the café down the street then?” Maria considers for a moment. She really shouldn’t be doing this, getting close to Natasha, but what’s the worst that could happen? Natasha falls in love with her? Right, like that’s likely to happen. 

“Sure.” 

“Great! Just give me a second to get changed” announces Natasha. Maria hears her feet pad back to the bedroom. She tilts her head to rest it on the back of the couch and lets out a sigh. Maria knows better than this, but she can’t bring herself to care and doesn’t feel like she’ll be regretting it any time soon. 


	5. Flerkin Eating Habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria learns that Liho is a flerkin after she and Nat have an argument and the cat takes Nats side and starts eating Maria’s stuff.

“I can’t believe that you thought that was okay-- Nat what is your cat doing?” asks Maria mid argument. 

“Liho appears to be eating your things. She’s a flerkin and she’s obviously taken my side” states Natasha petulantly. Maria simply stares at the black furred flerkin as it proceeds to gobble up her leather jacket with a loud slurping sound. 

“Does anyone else know of her and her origins?” asks Maria as she carefully sidesteps out of the alien furball’s range. 

“Nope. Just you. I don’t really invite many people back home. At first I thought she was just a stray. But why does that matter?” 

“Natasha! You can’t just keep an unknown and unregistered alien creature in your home! For starters what if she eat something important-- Oh no you don’t those are my keys!” yells Maria as she lunges for the keys sitting in the bowl next to the door. 

Too late. Liho swallows them with a flourish from her tongue. Maria stands with her hands on her hips, glaring at the small inky mammal. 

“Great! Now I’m stuck here” grumbles Maria, just loud enough for Natasha to hear. 

“What, like you’ve never picked a lock before?” asks Natasha sarcastically. Maria switches her glare from the creature to her lover. 

“Really? That’s what you wanna discuss right now? Not the huge chaos causing creature behind me?” asks Maria. She’s had it at this point, but so has Natasha. 

“Well if you hadn’t started this stupid argument, Liho wouldn’t be eating your stuff in the first place!" barks Natasha. 

"Well pardon me for finding your life worth something. I happen to like keeping you among the living!" growls Maria. 

"Until you get it through your head that I will go to whatever lengths necessary to get the mission done, I don't see what we have to talk about!" 

"THe mission is done when you come home! Not before! Regardless of what happens on site, if you don't come home, the mission is a failure!" 

"To who?!" 

"To ME!!" exclaims Maria. Realizing she may have shared too much, Maria runs a hand through her hair. She and Natasha have just recently declared themselves as a serious relationship, and Maria hadn't known the depth of her feelings for the other woman until she saw footage of Natasha putting herself in harm's way. Yes, the mission was a success and they got their informant out safely, but only after Natasha suffered two shots to her body. Maria had felt the air leave her lungs as she watched the live footage of Natasha's body being jolted by each shot. 

"You mean a lot to me Natasha, and the while the informant may have suffered a flesh wound at best, I can't bear if anything happened to you. You have to come back to me" explains Maria. She refuses to make eye contact, should she be met with mockery or even worse an expression of confusion. 

Instead there is the feel of Natasha's fingers under her chin, moving her face to look at her. 

"I will always come back to you" promises Natasha. She leans in to seal the promise with a kiss when the sound of retching gives them pause. Both turn to see that Liho has thrown up all of Maria's belongings. 

"I'll buy you a new jacket" says Natasha. 


	6. Creatures in Antartica

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I saw this prompt and HAD to do it:
> 
> enough coffee shop aus. time for ‘the thing’ aus. they are trapped together at a research station in antarctica. everyone stands around tensely while getting a blood test. somebody’s head turns into a spider.
> 
> So this is that story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is long and kind of got away from me because it was really fun to write!

This is ridiculous. Maria had thought so from the beginning. Not the mission, that needed to be done and she didn’t mind being the one sent with Natasha to take care of it. No, the part she objected to was the part where they had to blend in with the other scientists. Between the two of them, it felt like the prep team had just bought two of everything from LL Bean and Lands End and shoved it in packs for the two of them. She understood the importance of blending in, if she were in charge of this she would have mandated it too, but why they couldn’t wear an under layer made by SHIELD that would actually keep them warm didn’t make sense. It wasn’t like they’d be getting that close to the researchers there. Sadly, she wouldn’t be getting that close to Natasha either. No. No. Just push thoughts like that aside and focus on the mission, she tells herself. 

They’re sitting at the research station’s mess, if you could call this room that, sitting next to each other, eating something unidentifiable, and freezing. It was common knowledge that Antarctica is freezing, but Natasha, who had grown up in Russia and normally said that others didn’t know what cold was, was the first one to say this was past freezing. Technically it was, but focusing on the numbers just made the cold worse. 

The whole reason they were here was because there was some sort of creature that was replicating the researchers and hiding among them. Normally, this would be the last type of situation for SHIELD to send two of their best into, but Nick figured the whole thing might be due to a Skrull, and thought they could handle it with only a little mess. 

When it came to lodgings, Maria hoped the station had enough beds, although she wouldn’t be against having to share one with Natasha. No! Stop that! Anyway, a bed would be a luxury at this point. While the two of them were sharing a room, they were basically sleeping on two thread bare cots shoved on to a flimsy steel frame. Maria’s glare had kept the one sleazy guy from making a bunk bed joke. A bunk bed would also be considered a luxury. As it was, Maria was constantly worried that if she turned over too many times on top, she’d break through it and fall onto Natasha’s, which would then break as well, and then they’d both be stuck on the ice cold floor. Sadly, this was a very real possibility. 

The other downside to all this was that before they left, they had talked to Carol Danvers on how to recognize a Skrull, maybe let them know it was safe to reveal themselves to the two of them, that they were friends of Carol’s. Short of bringing a Flerkin with them, there wasn’t anything in terms of tech that they could use. Managing to take each of the researchers aside privately and try and find out had taken a whole day. Normally, Natasha can get anything out of anyone, but here Nat was playing down her looks in various ways. Ways that weren’t making Maria’s life any easier. For instance, Natasha still looked amazing to her without any makeup and dressed up in a million layers. 

Anyway, taking each member aside had been harder than it normally was due to the fact that when you strayed away from their field of expertise, each of them was awkward in their own way. They had to manage to get their questions across clearly without making it obvious that they were talking about space aliens. They also couldn’t let the individual’s various tangents and enthusiasm about their work go too far. That hadn’t led anywhere so, now they were freezing and didn’t know what to do next. Being unable to tell who the imposter was, it was making them both nervous. They were both armed of course, but they couldn’t just kill everyone just to make sure they were safe. It wasn’t that they didn’t have enough ammo for it, but the scientists were here doing serious work, but even more importantly, Nick wouldn’t be happy with them. 

She and Nat had abandoned what was left of their questionable meals and gone back to their sad little room. They were both scientists for their covers. Nat was better at this than she was, but she knew enough to pass, if just barely, and then either Nat answered for her or she gave them a glare. It worked on other people, there was no reason to think it wouldn’t work here. 

“You know, this is the type of thing that tends to happen on the X-Files” says Natasha once she’s settled in her bunk and Maria isn’t in too much danger of collapsing on her from above. Maria makes a face even though Nat can’t see it. 

“When were you watching the X-Files?” asks Maria. Natasha shrugs. 

“I wanted something to take my mind off things between missions and thought what I thought was a simple sci fi show wouldn’t hurt. Turns out it was a bit too much like work sometimes, but by then I was half way into season four I think. I eventually got through season nine after Clint stopped pestering me. We would watch together on the way back after missions. We tried the recent seasons, but I missed the old style. They also messed everything up and killed one of my favorite characters after making her do something she wouldn’t.” She can sense Maria raising an eyebrow at her. 

“What was your point, aside from bringing up a series that scared the shit out of me because I only ever watched it after I was well past tired with the guys while I was in the army or with Sharon when we were in the academy.” 

“You were doing some of the most intense work out there and this show scared you?” asks Nat incredulously. Maria’s glad Nat can’t see her due to the embarrassed blush on her face. 

“Look, you know as well as I do that we only ever get down time when we’re at the point where we can’t stand up and can barely breathe. Stupidly, I thought watching a show would be a good way to unwind, not wind me up further. I was at that point where things kind of get distorted in your mind due to exhaustion. Like you, I became sort of addicted and had to know what happened in the next episode. Wait, why are we even talking about this?” 

“You mean besides having excellent blackmail material on you? We’re definitely going to get together and watch the scariest episodes at a ridiculously late hour sometime. But yeah, aside from those two things that I will do, I think we should have a code word.” 

Maria forced herself to stop thinking about spending time with Natasha late at night and focus back on what Natasha’s main point had been. 

“Are we sure that would work? Don’t they have some of our memories? Who’s to say the imposter won’t have them?” 

“Okay, the imposter we thought it would be only has access to recent memories, and why do you have to be a downer? A code word is a good idea!” Maria frowns as she imagines Nat rolling her eyes. 

“I’m not being a downer, I’m just thinking things through! It’s one of the things I’m good at. Yes, a code word is a good idea, but how do we know it, whatever it is, won’t find out about it?” 

“I don’t know. We’ll just have to risk it, but it’s a failsafe. As for what it could be, maybe try something no one else would know from like, childhood or something?” The moment it leaves her mouth she regrets it. Her childhood had been unbearable, but Maria’s hadn’t been pleasant either. She didn’t know the specifics, but they’d talked enough to have had it mentioned a few times. 

“All I can think of are things you wouldn’t know about me or things I’d rather not anyone to know about, much less let an alien. The only other things I know are common knowledge sort of. Like the age I was when I saw Star Wars. Give me a minute to think…” says Maria, much to Natasha’s relief. When it came to her own code word, she was having the same problem, but in a different way. She could pick what age Red Room recruited her, but she only had a vague notion that she’d been five. At the time, her age hadn’t been her biggest concern and wouldn’t really matter to her until she started to consider how much Red Room had taken from her. By that time so many years had passed it was hard to be sure. When it came to her childhood in general, she had no idea what were hazy memories, dreams, or had been planted. 

“What if I just use my favorite character from the X Files?” she asks. 

“Then can I use the episode that scared me the most? I’ll have to evaluated the list to choose from, but it’s probably doable.” 

“How long is this list?” 

“Who’s your favorite character?” 

Before Natasha can respond, there’s a scream from somewhere in the station. Now, Maria and Natasha have been in this job long enough to tell between different screams. In situations like this, there tends to be the shocked scream, the terrified scream, and the dying scream. This was a terrified scream. The only reason they were getting up was because it tended to turn into a dying scream, usually because when people saw something deadly, they just had to get closer. 

Having never taken off their boots, all they have to do is grab their coats and then they’re off. Their weapons are safely tucked in a holster built into the coats, but even if they left them behind, Maria had one in her ankle holster and there was really no telling what Natasha had up her sleeves. 

When they get to where the scream came from, they find a worked up researcher. It’s a wiry guy, and by this point he’s too busy screaming to tell them what’s wrong. Maria gazes cautiously into the room, but before she leans too far in, Natasha pulls her backwards. 

“That’s a good way to get yourself killed” whispers Natasha in her ear. On the plus side Maria can pass off the shiver it gives her as being from the cold this time. That’s harder to do in sixty degree weather. 

“Well, it’s hard to know what you’re defending yourself against otherwise” she answers over her shoulder. But Natasha has a point, so instead of going inside they pull the door shut and lock it. The lock is flimsy, but it’s the best they can do. They could rig something, but while that wouldn’t take long, it might raise a few questions. 

“What did you see?” she hears Natasha ask the scientist. Unfortunately, the scientist is still in shock and can hardly make words, much less explain. He’s stammering and pointing to the locked room, but Maria can’t see anything through the door’s window. Fortunately, the whole place is full of these lab rooms with large windows for walls. Personally, working here would drive Maria nuts with everyone being able to see your every move. SHIELD was all about secrets, but she liked having space to think. She circles around the lab and then she sees it. 

“Nat…” she calls, keeping her voice as calm as she can make it while letting Natasha know that she’s found something. She turns to make sure it’s Natasha that’s beside her and then shifts her gaze hack to what’s in the lab. There’s a lot of blood. The amount that no one could lose and still be alive. Maybe if the situation wasn’t so alarming, she’d be aware of how close Natasha is to her, but right now she’d rather find out where the body went. 

* * *

So, Natasha flirts a lot in general. It’s kind of her way of letting someone know she likes them, but it usually never goes farther than the lilt in her voice. Sometimes she teases people a little, but with Maria she’s having trouble getting it across that she means it. Sometimes she even does it unconsciously, but she tends to realize what she did later. For instance, since whatever they were looking for was hopefully still locked in the lab, there really hadn’t been any reason for her to whisper in Maria’s ear earlier. The lack of reaction didn’t help, which was probably why she was standing so close to her right now. 

“That’s the amount of blood in… a person and a half?” she guesses, trying to focus. She’s not scared, nowhere near, but she still wants the comfort of holding Maria’s hand. The fact that they hadn’t decided on code words yet doesn’t help. “Tell me you’ve spotted the body” she murmurs. Maria shakes her head. 

“No body, no trace of an attack or signs of struggle, not even drag marks telling us where it went. Just that giant pool of blood.” She and Maria sigh nearly at the same time. Walking back over to the researcher, she shakes him roughly to get him to stop whimpering and focus on her. Contrary to what’s seen in shows and movies, slapping someone doesn’t bring people out of their stupor and she has a feeling Maria wouldn’t like her slapping him just because he’s so unhelpful. 

“What did you see?” she tries again. “Did you see who was there or what happened to them?” 

“Nothing, just all the blood” he stammers. Maria turns to look at her and with a sigh she knows what they have to do. 

“Let’s round everyone up and see who’s missing” says the Commander. Natasha nods, but takes Maria’s hand like she’d wanted to do. This time she’s doing it so they don’t do something stupid like split up, no matter the situation, that never goes well. 

Okay, so there’s one big problem. After gathering everyone together, there’s no one missing. Maria lets out a sigh and pinches the bridge of her nose. Natasha knows that move, it usually means Maria is struggling to figure out what to do next. Granted it’s usually when she and Clint have gone off the plan, but she can see how this is even more stressful. 

They can’t explain what’s going on to the others or themselves really, and that has everyone scared. 

“We really should have come up with a code word” mutters Natasha just loud enough for Maria to hear. There’s nothing pleasant about half a room of nervous researchers. The other half are irritated at being interrupted. Maria mutters something about SHIELD scientists at least being able to sense when something is extremely wrong and Nat bites back a smile, knowing it wouldn’t help anything. The only one who seems to know that is the guy that found the blood and the others are just picking up on his fear. That’s when one of the other scientists suggests a blood test to tell who isn’t real. It’s a good idea, but it also starts a large argument about how anyone knows that’s a problem. 

Natasha notes Maria digging her fingernails into her palms. Maria is a natural leader, but right now she can’t do anything without revealing who they are. Each of them gives blood, and then it’s just a matter of getting results. 

* * *

Maria doesn’t do waiting well when it comes to inexperienced people. It’s clear that she and Natasha are the only ones really prepared for whatever happens next, but not having any idea what that could be makes them nervous too. Without being able to make the others follow her orders, the group separates while they wait. She clenches her jaw in frustration knowing that’s the stupidest thing to do. 

She’s vaguely aware of Natasha holding her hand and while that’s something she’s wanted, she was hoping it wouldn’t be because they need to be sure neither one of them is killed and replaced by the imposter. She can’t focus on that now. Instead, she and Nat go around the station in an effort to monitor the researchers. It’s not the most effective plan, but at least it’s something. 

“We never came up with those code words you know…” mentions Nat casually. 

“Pancakes” she says softly. Natasha doesn’t stop walking but gives her a completely confused look. She glances towards her, realizing for the first time how close the operative is to her. “My code word. I’m picking pancakes.” It seems to throw Nat for a loop giving how many times she blinks at her for a few seconds before turning her attention back to the rooms around them. 

“Liho” replies Natasha just as softly. Maria quirks an eyebrow at her. There’s a faint blush on Nat’s cheeks, but that could be due to being warm from all the layers she’s wearing. 

“What’s that mean?” she asks. 

“Basically, the embodiment of evil, but in this case it’s the name of my cat.” Maria stops walking altogether. 

“You have a cat?” Nat narrows her eyes at her and is about to respond, when she notices one of the researchers on the floor of a lab, having a seizure. They both have had medical training for when they’re in the field, but this is a bit past their expertise. Maria has let go of Natasha’s hand when they rushed to his side, but they’ll need help here and letting Nat leave the room alone makes her uneasy. 

Natasha rushes back moments later with two other researchers and together they move him to another room that they’re using as a make shift medical area. As they carry the guy in, Maria spots the blood tests still being run. The same woman that had been testing the blood rushes over and has the rest of them back away. Fortunately, there’s various emergency medical equipment stored here so when the guy stops seizing, but his heart also stops beating, the other woman knows exactly what to do. She and Natasha back away against the rear wall and watch. Instinctually, her hand goes to the gun hidden in her coat, she can sense there’s something wrong and trusting her gut tended to keep her alive. 

* * *

When the guy can’t be brought back, she gives a sigh of relief. She’d noticed Maria going for her gun and had the same urge. A least this was one less person to worry about. That’s when the guy’s chest collapses and they miss exactly what happens next, the woman’s body being in the way as she’s stunned by what just happened. Maria goes to reach for her, but Nat quickly pulls the Commander against her when the other woman begins to scream that dying scream. There’s gushing blood and the scientist’s hands are missing. She shoves Maria out the door and promptly follows after her. 

“I’ll go call in to the nearest base and get an evac here fast” she says over her shoulder as she rushes back to their room. They’d kept that radio in their room in case of an emergency and this definitely qualifies. She’s trying to come up with something they could do aside from blowing the whole place up, but it might be the safest move. That’s when the power flickers for a moment. Knowing that’s just the start of things, she’s relieved to know there are back up generators. 

She’s just put the call through, saying firmly that they did not want back up here, just evac. The absolute last thing they needed was a bunch of SHIELD agents with weapons on site to be impersonated. They have an hour to finish things up and she just hopes that’s enough time otherwise they might actually wind up blowing up the station. Going back out, she resists the urge to hold her gun and cause more alarm than was already happening. 

Racing back out to find Maria, she finds her in the eating area. She already doesn’t like the look on Maria’s face since it’s more intense than before. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Well, in the chaos of that… thing biting the hands off that woman, the blood samples were knocked over.” Great. Going to look for any hint of what they’re dealing with, she goes back to the medical lab room. Just like the rest of this place, it’s got large glass windows to look through. It takes a few moments, but when she sees it, she wishes she hadn’t. 

"Maria… where’s the head? Also, shouldn’t we do something about the body? Destroy it somehow? Maria?” She turns to look at her, but Maria’s gaze seems to be fixed on something in the hallway. Shifting to look, she sees the missing head dragging its way down the hall by its tongue. She doesn’t really know what to make of that either. After a second, she and Maria both draw their guns and fire a few shots off at it. No sense in wasting ammo if it’s not effective. Needless to say, the bullets hadn’t helped anything. 

Instead, the head turns towards them. They hate it when other people, mainly civilians, do this, but they can’t help but watch, transfixed to the sight happening in front of them. As they watch, what used to be the head sprouts two eye stocks. That was horrifying enough, there really was no need for spider legs to sprout from underneath… it. The two of them steadily back away as the creature begins to skitter towards them. As it gained speed, they took off at a run. There’s a flimsy set of double doors that close off the hallway from the rest of the station. 

* * *

After blocking the door with every heavy thing nearby, they’re greeted with the protests of the researchers. She just hopes everyone is here because there’s no way they can go back for them. Not without something more effective than their guns. 

“What is going on and why do you two have guns? You’re not even researchers, are you?” barks one of the scientists. He’s a big guy and might be imposing to most, but they’ve fought bigger. Ignoring the lame attempt at an interrogation, she shifts to look at Natasha. 

“We’re going to have to figure out a way to destroy those things. Is everyone accounted for?” 

“Except for the one missing her hands and the other that turned into those… things, yeah, everyone is here. Also, we only have a little less than an hour to figure this out. 

“Figure what out? Who are you people and why do you have guns?” asks a different researcher. 

“Look, we’re here to try and figure out how to deal with what’s happening now. We are your only chance of getting out of here alive. What other equipment do you have here? Something that could use to destroy whatever is in here trying to kill us because our guns aren’t going to cut it here” she answers curtly. 

She can feel Natasha looking at her, but then she turns to look at the others. Maria’s trying to think fast. If bullets didn’t work, knives are out as well. They didn’t bring much else with them. Nat has her Widow Bites and those might help, but they’ll need more than something to just stun them. That’s when one of the researchers says something actually helpful. 

“There are flamethrowers in the shed outside.” She can’t help the incredulous look she gives them, but doesn’t say anything. It’s beyond her why they’d have flamethrowers at a research station, but she’s not going to question something that would help them. She’s about to rush out, but Natasha grabs her arm. 

“The Second in Command is actually needed. Someone else can take my place. I’ll go get the flamethrower.” 

Maria wants to say that Natasha is just as important, to her and the world, but can’t get the words won’t come out. Before she can even try, Natasha has taken off. She tries to push down the nauseous feeling that it gives her and focuses on the problem at hand. It’s what she’s been trained to do. With a deep breath, she turns to the door they’d just barricaded. Natasha was right, they’ll have to destroy the body that… transformed. The head too, not just because it was horrifying, but because letting that out into the world would be the start of something they wouldn’t be able to control. There was also the fact that they didn’t know where it came from. Even if they did know these things, destroying it before it got out of the station was the only option. With their luck, it was the type of creature that would survive harsh cold temperatures and crawl onto a supply plane or something. 

The more she thought this out, the worse she felt. Natasha returns with the flamethrower strapped to her back and nods to the doorway. Glaring at a few of the others, they quickly get up and help her clear the doorway. Natasha starts to go in, but does a double take as Maria gets up to follow her. Nat’s clearly about to protest, but all she has to do is raise an eyebrow to let her know that arguing is pointless. 

The first room they go to is the medical one to torch the body. Thankfully, it’s still there. Torching it doesn’t take long, but that head is still missing. They’d watched for it as they made their way to the room and she was still an eye out for it, but it hadn’t shown up. She wasn’t sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. She should really have seen it coming, but her attention had been focused on the creatures. When the researchers arrive with fire extinguishers, they nearly get torched. 

“What the hell are you doing?” she hisses at them. 

“If the fire goes on the whole station could burn down!” As far as she’s concerned, that wouldn’t entirely be a bad thing. Yanking an extinguisher away from one of them, she orders them back. When the idiots are safely back, she turns towards Nat and rolls her eyes. 

“Let’s find that stupid head.” 

* * *

Finding a head shouldn’t be this hard, especially in its current state. Could they still call it a head? In the next moment she regrets her thoughts because that’s exactly when the lights flicker again, but this time go out. So much for those generators and there goes the only thing they had on their side. Now they had to look for the creature in dark rooms and hallways. She must have had a weird expression on her face given the look Maria’s giving her. 

“Sorry, the whole lights thing is my fault. Had a negative thought” she explains. Maria rolls her eyes. 

She can’t remember exactly how or why, but at some point, the two of them get separated, which is stupid because they both know better. She’d been so focused on scanning every surface, that she doesn’t even remember exactly when it happened, but that’s when she notices the extinguisher down the hallway. It’s sitting there alone. Shit. Now she’s nervous for an entirely different reason. 

“Maria?” That’s when the Commander appears again and she lets out a relieved sigh. She lets the handle of the flamethrower fall back down to her side. As Maria gets closer though something tugs at her gut. Something is wrong. 

“What? We’re clear down here so we should go” announces Maria. Natasha hesitates, but she can’t exactly put her finger on why, there’s just something off. She raises the handle again and it makes Maria stop. 

“Natasha?” Before she can respond, another Maria comes up from behind and smashes the extinguisher into the back of the head of the other again and again and again. The Maria that came up from behind the other looks up at her. 

“You have a cat named Liho and us separating was stupid. Sorry, about that. Unfortunately, this is as far as I got, we still have the other half of the hallway to do.” This time, the gut feeling is gone and before she can even think about it, she lets the handle drop to her side and rushes over and grabs her Maria in a tight hug. After a second, Maria’s arms come up around her too. 

“That’s not how it’s supposed to work by the way, you’re supposed to say your own safe word, you moron” she says, not moving from where her face is buried in Maria’s neck. 

“First of all, a _safe_ word is an entirely different thing. Second, who wrote the rules on how this whole code word thing is supposed to work? Why would I say my own code word, the one I already know? Is this something you saw on the show because if it is, maybe we should rewatch the episode.” All she can do is let out a strangled laugh. She forces herself to let go, but stays by Maria’s side. “Also, can you torch that other version of me before it turns into someone weirder like Sharon or Fury?” Natasha nods and promptly torches it. 

Eventually, they find the head and torch that too. They both hope that by torching the Maria impersonator they’ve ended this, but sadly, they both know that’s not good enough. Using the radio again, they’re put in contact with Bobbi Morse. After a bunch of questions that they don’t really have the answers to or can’t get now that most of the medical equipment is in shambles like the rest of that room. 

Getting back to the main area, they find they have a little over twenty minutes left and that all the others have worked themselves up even more. She can see Maria resisting the urge to check her watch as the researchers continue to ask questions and demand questions loudly. She barely contains her smile because becoming infuriated over things that were pointless. She has half a mind to torch them all and just be done with it, but as if sensing her thoughts, Maria gives her a hard glare. Then somehow, Maria comes up with the worst plan ever. One by one each of the scientists has to explain what their working on in detail. This takes even longer than she expected and she can feel Maria’s growing irritation, but this is the only way other than something sensible like science. 

There are a variety of projects going on. Everything from drilling hundreds of feet into the ice to experimenting on what they found in the ice. There were also some legitimate experiments going on, but those took just as long to explain as the stupid ones. When they get to the imposter he realizes he’s stuck and tries a last minute attack that she’s more than ready for and torches it. 

When the evac arrives, they’ve already destroyed all of the belongs that the researchers brought so that nothing can hitch a ride if it’s still out there. Evac comes in the form of two large choppers, each equipped with isolation cells for each of the scientists. Once everyone is loaded up, the station is destroyed. Maria elbows her and gives her a smile. She hadn’t realized she’d been muttering aloud about how she’d wished they’d just done that to begin with. Maria simply squeezes her hand and chuckles. 

Getting back to SHIELD, she finds that she’s resting her head on Maria’s shoulder, but doesn’t remember even falling asleep. It’s not all that surprising though, hunting unknown creatures is tiring. She also notices that Maria is still awake, but hadn’t moved her. If she were anybody else except for maybe Clint, she’d still have lingering doubts on whether or not this is her Maria, but there’s no question about it. 

“So, were you serious about that whole X Files episodes thing, because I’d be up for it. Maybe not so soon though. After all this, it might be a little much. Are there anymore less stressful series that we could watch? I’m mean, whenever you want to of course, it doesn’t have to be soon. Actually, if you were just teasing about all of it, the X Files stuff too, that’s fine…” She cuts Maria off before she gets too tangled up. She squeezes her hand. 

“Have you ever heard of Lodge 49?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a few things. 
> 
> Yes, it could still be the imposter Maria BUT IT ISN'T because I want them to be happy and I can't take the image of Natasha torching the real her. Plus, if she WAS the imposter, Maria would have killed them all the moment they landed. So, no. She's the real deal. 
> 
> Lodge 49 is a real show you can watch on Hulu and has two seasons. The music is awesome too. 
> 
> Lastly, I do have more prompts in my tumblr inbox, and I will get to those, but if you have your own leave it for me on my tumblr inbox or here in the comments! I'll try and update this series more often, but I am working on a few others. Enjoy!


End file.
